Little Princess
by Icy Pwny
Summary: Far away from the Pridelands, a small princess begins her adventures. AU.


**Little Princess:** Chapter 1

_Before you start reading, I'd like to say that this is a __major__ AU. It will probably have some sexual content later on, so that's why it's rated M. Might have some violence as well, definitely going to have a bit of harsh language. Anyway, I'll just let you read and find out. Zira and Scar don't have any relation to canon characters, except Kiara, Nuka, and Vitani. And Kopa isn't Simba's son; but I'm just going to shut up now and let you red. _

* * *

"Daaad, wake up!" Kiara groaned, pushing Scar's mane and headbutting her father. She narrowed her bright green eyes at the lazy lion, then knelt down, preparing to charge the king. Her mother, Queen Zira, just happened to stroll in at that moment and catch her daughter in a pouncing position. The queen's red eyes dilated with irritation, and she stepped forward, eyes gleaming angrily. Kiara gave her an apologetic smile and sank down by her father's paw, grinning weakly. "Sorry, Mom..."

Zira sighed, curling up near her mate and daughter, pulling Kiara into her grasp. "Kiara, honestly, sometimes I worry about you, my dear. Of course, your older brothers and sisters did this too. Especially Vitani; but she just likes spending time with that cub now. Nuka never tried to..._charge_ his father, but he acted as if he wanted to sometimes. But alas and alack, I think that was just because he was terrified of my dear mate. Being a runt and all..." The lioness sighed, running one of her claws gently down the stripe along Kiara's back, making the cub squeal softly and flinch. "Oh, it's alright. Do you really think I would harm my own daughter? I would _never_ put my daughter in harm's way, or harm her myself, I promise, Kiara."

"I know, Mom," Kiara responded softly, a small, faint smile on her thin black lips. Licking them gently, she crawled under Scar's foreleg and purred against his light reddish-brown paw, rubbing her father's chest with her head. Zira smiled and slipped forward, nuzzling her daughter and sliding her head on her mate's back. "I know."

At that moment, just as Zira was slowly getting up, Vitani rushed in, a grin on her face. Shortly, she was followed by her brothers, Nuka and Nuru, then her sisters. Two of the three young lionesses were frowning, mud splattered all over themselves, but the oddball of Scar and Zira's children, Zahra, was humming to herself and grinning, golden fur thick with mud. Nuka rolled his eyes at the girls and stepped forward, a somewhat confident smile on the lion's face. He had been a runt, born almost a month early, but recently had fattened up. At once when he had been born, Scar had deemed him unworthy of the throne. But now, the king had been reconsidering.

"Mother," Rashida, one of the two other girls, complained. Her dark green eyes were glittering with aggravation as she snarled at Nuka to get out of the way. Her younger brother obliged, smirking as he stepped aside. "My sister, the little devil here, decided to play a prank on her sisters...damned warlike child. She really doesn't know when to quit." Vitani gave her mother the most innocent smile she could muster up, sitting there peacefully.

"And why the hell would I care? It was probably you. You're just jealous of my little girl, because she's ten times the lioness you three put together are." Zira snapped at Rashida, foamy spittle dripping from her lips. "Get out. Vitani, Nuru, Nuka...you may stay. But not _these_ bastards. They will be sleeping outside tonight, and if this outrageous behavior keeps up..." The threat fell from her lips easily, and Kiara yawned under her father's paws.

"But, but..." Bianca, the slightly younger sister of Rashida, whined, her eyes contorting wildly. Her tone was filled with the brat her mother had perfected long ago. "But...it was Vitani, I swear to the Great Kings. Goddamn it, Vitani, you've gotten us all booted once again! May the stars curse you, you good-for-_nothing_ little bastard."

"Mother, they're still blaming me for the mud and muck they rolled themselves in," Vitani complained, but carefully controlled her tone. Zira's expression softened as her three older daughters slunk outside, giving their younger sister the evil eye as they did. "They were trying to roll me, Nuru, and Nuka in it, but they ended up getting tossed in it themselves. It was their own fault they got dirty."

"I know, darling Vitani..." Zira cooed, stroking her cub's fur and starting to bathe the slightly dirty young lioness. Vitani purred softly as her mother's sandpaper tongue ran over the light fur coating her body. "They're such brats. I can't believe I raised such little imbeciles...they don't know when to quit, those foul lionesses. Well, they sure aren't catching my eye! Even as my oldest, Rashida doesn't seem fit for heiress. You, my dear, are outstanding. Maybe you will inherit the throne. Scar already denied Nuka, but perhaps Nuru could be the king someday. He _is_ oldest, other than the triplets."

"Mother?" Vitani asked, crawling away from the attention and stretching out next to her father and sister. "I don't want to be queen, Mother. I really don't..." Her eyes flickered with doubt, and Zira chuckled, clutching her daughter again. "I don't have to be heiress if I don't want to, right, Mother? Please tell me I don't have to be a queen someday."

"Don't worry, Vitani," Zira purred, pulling her daughter closer and laying her head on the cub's. "You don't have to be a queen if you don't want to be. I'm sure your father would agree with me. He'd never want to hurt his favorite daughter...oh, second favorite." Vitani scrambled away once more, curling up beside her sister, Kiara. "Heh, I think he'll make Kiara or Nuru heir, if you're not interested. The firstborn is a dumbass, and her two sisters are worse, if possible." Then she reached out for her two teenage sons, pulling them close. "Goodnight." she whispered, resting her head on her mate's foreleg.

* * *

"Morning, Mom!" Kiara whispered cheerfully, nudging her mother's snoring body. "Wake up...everyone else is already awake, even the triplets. C'mon, Mom, get up! It's time for breakfast, and you need to lead the hunt. Mom, even Dad is awake. And he's never awake; you're always awake. So get up, Mo-o-om..." Zira stirred, moaning weakly in her sleep. Kiara raised her eyebrows, getting ready to pounce on the lioness, but her mother's eyes snapped open just as she sprung into the air.

Chuckling, Zira dodged her daughter's flying leap, sending the cub sailing outside with a swift "whoa!". Outside, the other children of Zira and Scar snickered once Kiara landed...right on top of Vitani. The two sisters lay in a messy heap, fur sticking every which way. Vitani and Kiara looked at each other, then burst into hysterical fits of giggles. Kiara rolled around on the grass, giggling, while Vitani gasped for breath, throat sore. Then she stopped, only to glance at Kiara and start laughing again.

"Hey, at least I got Mom up!" Kiara managed, calming herself down slightly, rising from the ground. Shortly after, Vitani followed her lead, slipping back onto her feet. The two occasionally stifled a random giggle. "For a second I thought she was turning into Dad, because Dad's always asleep, he's really lazy for a king...I wonder why, Vitani?"

"What was that, Kiara?" Zira murmured, making her daughter blush weakly. "Your father's simply exhausted because of all his duties he has to take care of...you know, he's the king, kings have a lot of work to do. He just gets weary from working so hard. Maybe if you didn't wake up at noon and then fall asleep at a quarter past, you'd know that he isn't always sleeping. He _does_ get up every day."

Kiara wasn't listening, instead swatting at a butterfly fluttering by. Vitani noticed this, and she dove into the grass, crouching, preparing to pounce and grasp that slippery little insect in her lightly colored paws. Her sister only made this task easier by taking the head-on approach: leaping for the little butterfly, closing her claws over open air. The older of the two waited, then sprung up, flying through the air and clutching the insect, causing Kiara to yelp as the prey she'd been chasing vanished into Vitani's paws. A smug smile spread itself on Vitani's lips as she proudly let go of the bug.

"H-hey!" Kiara cried out, puffing out her cheeks and slumping onto the ground. "Not fair! Not fair, Vitani!" She bent down as if stalking prey, and leapt up a few seconds later, barreling straight towards her sister, who lunged out of the way, causing Kiara to slide on the slippery, wet grass. "Whoa!" she yelped, skidding along the ground, heading forward - right towards the river.

"Kiara!" Vitani yelled, dashing for her sister. "Hold on, Kiara!" The cub scrambled along the dirt trail, rushing for her sister, who was sliding, out of control, towards the raging river. Normally the body of water was calm, but ever since it had rained, the river started thrashing. Vitani often worried about what would happen if a lion cub - such as herself or one of her siblings - fell in. Now that nightmarish worry was coming to life, right before her eyes. The cub froze in her tracks, hopelessly peering towards her speeding sister...and then an idea sprang into her head. It was so simple. Why hadn't she thought of it before? "Dig your claws in, Kiara! Trust me!"

Kiara gave a swift nod, plunging her sharp claws into the grass, skidding to a speedy halt. She and her sister both sighed in relief. The youngest of the king and queen's cubs was safe. This was all that mattered. Vitani knew that if Kiara had fallen in, Zira and Scar would both kill their daughter for not even trying to save her sister. Which would be a lie, as Vitani did attempt to help before the idea came.

"Are you alright, Kiara?" Vitani asked hurriedly, rushing over to the frozen in place cub. "I'm sorry, Kiara, I didn't mean to make you slip like that...I'll take you back home, okay?" Kiara glared at her sister, huffing and getting back up. "...Kiara? Are you okay?" The other cub didn't answer, instead snarling and walking away from the older cub with her chest puffed out. "C'mon, Kiara, I'm so sorry...I didn't mean for that to happen. Really!"

But the cub had already stalked off, eyes narrowed and chest heaving. After a few minutes of watching her sister struggle through the slippery strands of grass, Vitani caught a glimpse of a young adult lion slipping through the field, his green eyes locked on Kiara. Vitani raced forward, leaping as she got closer, landing right on the lion's head.

A shocked expression flew across the strange lion's face; he reached up to swat the cub from his face, but just clawed himself, groaning slightly and doubling back. He muttered a quick, irritated, "What the hell are you doing, Vitani? Mother asked me to go find you and Kiara...so I follow her order, and what do I get for trying to bring Kiara home?"

Nuru rose up from the grass, looking aggravated and wearing a deep, angry scar just above his left eye. He snarled, green eyes narrowed and looking quite irritated. Vitani scrambled off her brother's head, dropping to the ground and grinning apologetically. Nuru merely rolled his eyes, sliding along the grass and gripping his other sister in his paws.

"C'mon, Ki," he spat, nuzzling Kiara forward. "We're going home. I don't know about Vitani, though. Maybe we should just leave her here. It would teach the little rat a lesson." Vitani heard this and rushed forward, hopping easily onto her brother's back, clutching the thin, scruffy mane that ran along the lion's back. "H-hey!" he complained, bucking his legs and kicking Vitani off just as easily as she had gotten on.

They strolled home without another word, none of them looking at the other two.


End file.
